Settlement system and settlement method

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment, a settlement system includes a server and a merchant device. The server includes a rate notification unit and a payment controller. The rate notification unit notifies the device of an exchange rate. The payment controller pays the amount to the device in a currency of a second country. The device includes a display controller and a sales notification unit. The display controller displays on a terminal of a user an amount of payment for purchase of an article in a currency of a first country. The sales notification unit reports to the server the sales information in the currency of the first country. Upon receipt of an image that contains an article, the display controller calculates the amount of payment for purchase of the article in the currency of the first country, and displays the calculated amount of payment on the image.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-200288, filed Nov. 1, 2019,the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a settlement system and a settlementmethod.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, when purchasing merchandise abroad, a traveler looks atthe price displayed in the local currency and pays for the merchandise.When the travel destination is Japan, for example, the traveler needs tolook at the price displayed in Japanese yen to make payment. If thetraveler uses his/her credit card to make payment, the amount of paymentwill be determined at a later date at an exchange rate at a time pointdetermined by a credit card company.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   Patent Literature 1: Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No.    2006-318229

SUMMARY

There has been a problem, however, in the above-described traditionalmethod that the amount of payment in the home currency is difficult toascertain. When the travel destination is Japan, for example, with theprice displayed in Japanese yen, the traveler does not know the price inhis/her home currency. If the traveler uses a credit card to makepayment, the amount of payment will be fixed at a later date at anexchange rate at a time point determined by the credit card company, andtherefore the traveler will not know the amount of payment at the timeof making payment.

To solve the above issue and achieve a purpose of the embodiments, thesettlement system according to the present embodiments comprises aserver and a merchant device, wherein the server comprises: a ratenotification unit configured to report, at a predetermined occasion, anexchange rate applicable for a predetermined period of time to themerchant device; and a payment controller configured to perform controlto determine an amount of payment to be made to the merchant device,based on sales information reported by the merchant device and anexchange rate at a time of purchase, and pay the determined amount tothe merchant device in a currency of a second country, which is a homecurrency for the merchant device, the merchant device comprises adisplay controller configured to perform control, based on the exchangerate reported by the server, to display on a terminal of a user anamount of payment for purchase of an article in a currency of a firstcountry designated by the user; and a sales notification unit configuredto, if the user purchases the article, report to the server the salesinformation in the currency of the first country calculated based on theexchange rate reported by the server.

Furthermore, the settlement method of the present embodiments isimplemented by a settlement system comprising a server and a merchantdevice, and the method comprises reporting, by the server, an exchangerate to the merchant device at a predetermined occasion; controlling, bythe merchant device, to display on a terminal of a user an amount ofpayment for purchase of an article in a currency of a first countrydesignated by the user, based on the exchange rate reported by theserver; notifying, by the merchant device, if the user purchases thearticle, the server of sales information in a currency of a firstcountry that is calculated based on the exchange rate reported by theserver; and controlling, by the server, to determine an amount ofpayment to the merchant device based on the sales information reportedby the merchant device and the exchange rate at a time of purchase, andto pay the determined amount to the merchant device in a currency of asecond country, which is a home currency for the merchant device.

The present embodiments produce an effect of allowing a user to purchasemerchandise in his/her home currency while checking the price in thehome currency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the outline of a settlement system accordingto the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a price displayed in the homecurrency on a terminal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of theserver according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing exemplary data stored in a sales informationstorage unit.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of amerchant device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing exemplary data stored in a merchandise listinformation storage unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a computer configured to implement programs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of a settlement system and a settlement method according tothe present invention will be described in detail below with referenceto the drawings. The settlement system and settlement method accordingto the present invention, however, should not be limited by theseembodiments.

First Embodiment

In the following description, the outline of a settlement system 100according to the first embodiment, the configuration of a server 10, andthe configuration of a merchant device 20 will be described in order,and finally the effects of the first embodiment will be discussed. Inthe following description of the embodiment, a credit card is used forthe purchase of merchandise. The purchase is not limited thereto,however, and merchandise may be purchased using a debit card or a QRcode (trademark).

[Configuration of Settlement System]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the outline of a settlement system accordingto the first embodiment. The settlement system 100 according to thefirst embodiment includes a server 10, a merchant device 20, a terminal30, a payment gateway 40, and a credit card company 50. Theconfiguration of FIG. 1 is presented merely as an example, and thereforethe detailed configuration and the number of devices are not limitedthereto.

The settlement system 100 offers services with which, when charging apurchase to a credit card at a merchant overseas, the user can check theamount of payment in his/her home currency and make the purchase in thehome currency based on the presently fixed exchange rate.

In the following description with reference to FIG. 1 , a situation ofan American credit card user traveling to Japan will be discussed. Inthis example, the home country of the user is the United States, andtherefore the United States is denoted as the first country and Japan isdenoted as the second country.

The server 10 of the settlement system 100 reports the exchange rategood for a certain period of time to devices in the credit-cardaffiliated merchants, at certain occasions. The server 10 may report theexchange rate of the day daily. The server 10 may determine in anymanner the exchange rate to be reported.

The server 10 performs control to determine the amount of payment to themerchant device 20 based on the sales information reported by themerchant device 20 and the exchange rate of the purchase time and paythe determined amount to the merchant device 20 in the currency of thesecond country, which is the home currency for the merchant device 20.For instance, the server 10 receives the user's payment from the paymentgateway 40 in dollars (US dollars), converts the currency from USdollars to Japanese yen, and pays to a Japanese merchant device 20 inJapanese yen.

The merchant device 20 is an information processor that realizessettlement for credit-card affiliated merchants at which settlements canbe made on credit cards, and the merchant device 20 may be realized by aserver or a cloud system. Based on the exchange rate reported by theserver 10, the merchant device 20 performs control in a manner such thatthe amount of payment for the purchased merchandise is displayed on theterminal 30 in the currency of the first country designated by the user.For instance, the merchant device 20 calculates the amount of payment indollars from the price in Japanese yen of an item that the credit carduser wishes to purchase and the exchange rate, and displays thecalculated amount of payment in dollars on the terminal 30 of the creditcard user.

Furthermore, if the credit card user purchases merchandise on a creditcard, the merchant device 20 notifies the server 10 of the salesinformation in the currency of the first country, calculated based onthe exchange rate reported by the server 10. The credit-card affiliatedmerchants are not limited to convenience stores and otherbricks-and-mortar shops, but may be electronic commerce (EC) sites thatconduct sales operations on websites.

The terminal 30 is a smart device such as a smartphone or a tablet,which is a mobile terminal apparatus capable of communicating with aserver through a wireless communication network. The terminal 30 may bean information processing apparatus such as a desktop personal computer(PC) or notebook PC. The terminal 30 has a function of specifying thecurrent location through the use of a positioning system such as aglobal positioning system (GPS) and outputting the location informationindicating the specified location.

The payment gateway 40 includes an information processor or the likeconfigured to offer services of overall credit card settlementtransactions including data processing and transaction processing, tomerchants in the non-face-to-face market of credit card shopping. Thepayment gateway 40 may be implemented by a server or a cloud system. Thecredit card company 50 includes an information processor or the likeconfigured to perform a credit card settlement, which is a deferredpayment for the purchase of merchandise. This information processor maybe implemented by a server or a cloud system.

With the settlement system 100, an amount of payment can be displayed onthe terminal 30 when the credit card user purchases merchandise in aforeign travel destination country. In addition, the amount ofsettlement can be fixed to the price in the home currency displayed atthe time of purchase. Furthermore, with the settlement system 100, thecredit card payment flow remains unchanged for the credit card user fromthe conventional flow. Purchases in a foreign country therefore can bemade in the same manner as purchases in the home country with the creditcard.

Here, using the example of FIG. 1 , a processing flow up to thecompletion of the payment for purchased merchandise will be explained ina situation of a credit card user selecting a credit card settlement forthe merchandise purchased at a merchant. As shown in FIG. 1 , the server10 reports the exchange rate of the day daily to the merchant device 20of the credit-card affiliated merchant (see (1) in FIG. 1 ). Uponreceipt of an exchange rate from the server 10, the merchant device 20stores this exchange rate.

Furthermore, upon receipt of a request to display the price from theterminal 30, the merchant device 20 performs control in a manner suchthat the price of the merchandise (amount of payment) will be displayedon the terminal 30 in the currency (e.g. US dollars) designated by theuser based on the exchange rate reported by the server 10 (see (2) inFIG. 1 ).

For instance, upon receipt of an image of an article that the userwishes to purchase from the terminal 30, the merchant device 20 performscontrol in such a manner as to identify the price of the articlecontained in this image, calculate the amount of payment in the currencydesignated by the user from the price of the article and the exchangerate, and display on the terminal 30 the amount of payment for thearticle in the currency designated by the user (e.g., in US dollars).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a price displayed in the homecurrency on a terminal. In the example of FIG. 2 , the terminal 30 takeswith a camera an image of articles laid out at a merchant shop such as aconvenience store, and sends the image to the merchant device 20. Themerchant device 20 displays prices in both Japanese yen and US dollarson the image of the article on the terminal 30. The displayed prices arethe amount of actual payment that the credit card user is going to make,including fees for the credit card transaction, and therefore may differfrom the prices displayed at the merchant. Moreover, the fees may varyamong the merchants.

If the credit card user selects a settlement for the purchasedmerchandise on a credit card in the home currency (US dollars) of thecredit card user (see (3) in FIG. 1 ), the merchant device 20 notifiesthe server 10 of the sales information regarding the purchase of themerchandise in the home currency (US dollars) (see (4) in FIG. 1 ). Themerchant device 20 further requests authorization from the paymentgateway 40 for the credit card settlement (see (5) in FIG. 1 ).

The payment gateway 40 notifies the credit card company 50 of thisauthorization request (see (6) in FIG. 1 ). Thereafter, the credit cardcompany 50 notifies the payment gateway 40 of the authorization result(see (7) in FIG. 1 ). The payment gateway 40 notifies the merchantdevice 20 of this authorization result (see (8) in FIG. 1 ). If theauthorization result raises no problems, the credit-card affiliatedmerchant hands over the article to the credit card user (see (9) in FIG.1 ).

The credit card company 50 notifies the payment gateway 40 of the resultof the sales information relating to the credit card settlement (see(10) in FIG. 1 ). The payment gateway 40 notifies the merchant device 20of the result of the sales information (see (11) in FIG. 1 ).

Thereafter, the credit card user makes a payment to the credit cardcompany in the home currency (US dollars) of the credit card user in thesame manner as in the conventional system (see (12) in FIG. 1 ). Thecredit card company 50 remits the amount in US dollars to the paymentgateway 40 (see (13) in FIG. 1 ). Then, the payment gateway 40 remitsthe amount in US dollars to the server 10 (see (14) in FIG. 1 ). Theprocessing in (3) to (13) of FIG. 1 is the same as that of theconventional credit card settlement.

When the server 10 confirms the receipt of the amount in US dollars, thecurrency is converted (see (15) in FIG. 1 ) so that the amount inJapanese yen can be remitted to the credit-card affiliated merchant.Here, fees for currency conversion may be imposed. In the case of thecredit card user wishing to return the purchased article, the merchantdevice 20 returns the amount at the same exchange rate as the rate atthe time of purchasing.

As mentioned above, the processing in (3) to (13) of FIG. 1 is the sameas when the credit card user makes a payment to the credit card company50 on a credit card in the home country. That is, the processing flowfor the credit card user and the credit card company 50 is the same whena purchase is made on a credit card in the settlement system 100according to the present embodiment and when a purchase is made in thehome country as usual.

The settlement system 100 offers services with which, when chargingmerchandise to a credit card at a merchant in a foreign country, theuser can ascertain the amount of payment in his/her home currency at thetime of making payment. In addition, with the settlement system 100, theamount of settlement can be fixed to the amount at the time ofpurchasing. Thus, the credit card user can safely make purchases withoutbeing concerned about a risk of exchange rate fluctuations.

[Configuration of Server]

Next, the configuration of the server 10 will be described withreference to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an exemplaryconfiguration of the server according to the first embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 3 , the server 10 includes a communicationprocessing unit 11, a controller 12, and a storage unit 13. Theprocessing of the components of the server 10 will be described below.The functions of the server 10 may be divided and assigned to multipleapparatuses.

The communication processing unit 11 controls communications relating tovarious types of information. The communication processing unit 11 maycontrol the communications between the merchant device 20 of thecredit-card affiliated merchant and the payment gateway 40.

The storage unit 13 stores data and programs necessary for variousprocessing performed by the controller 12. In particular, the storageunit 13 includes a sales information storage unit 13 a, as a componentrelevant to the present embodiment. The storage unit 13 may be asemiconductor memory element such as a random access memory (RAM) and aflash memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk and an opticaldisk.

The sales information storage unit 13 a stores information relating tothe sales of the credit-card affiliated merchant. As shown in FIG. 4 ,for example, the sales information storage unit 13 a stores, asinformation relating to sales when a credit card settlement is selected,the “purchaser name” indicating the name of the purchaser who haspurchased an article, “article name” indicting the name of the articlepurchased, the “sales amount” effected by the purchase of the article, a“purchase time/date” indicating the time and date of the purchase, andan “exchange rate at purchase” indicating the exchange rate applicableat the time of the purchase, in association with each other. In theexample of FIG. 4 , the sales information storage unit 13 a stores therate of yen to US dollars as an exchange rate at the time of purchase.

The controller 12 includes an internal memory for storing required dataand programs defining various processing procedures, therebyimplementing various processing. In particular, the controller 12includes a rate notification unit 12 a and a payment controller 12 b ascomponents closely related to the present embodiment. Here, thecontroller 12 is an electronic circuit such as a central processing unit(CPU) and a micro processing unit (MPU), or an integrated circuit suchas an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA).

The rate notification unit 12 a reports exchange rates to the merchantdevice 20 of the credit card affiliated merchant at a predeterminedoccasion. The rate notification unit 12 a may report, for example, theexchange rate of the day daily to the merchant device 20. Alternatively,the rate notification unit 12 a may report the exchange rate applicableto individual credit card users for a certain period of time, to themerchant device 20. For instance, the rate notification unit 12 a mayreport, as an exchange rate applicable a credit card user who istraveling abroad for a certain period of time, a fixed exchange rateapplicable during his/her traveling period to the merchant device 20.

The payment controller 12 b performs control to determine the amount ofpayment to the merchant device 20 based on the sales informationreported by the merchant device 20 and the exchange rate of the purchasetime and pay the determined amount to the merchant device 20 in thecurrency of the second country, which is the home currency for themerchant device 20.

If the credit card user makes a payment to the credit card company 50 inthe currency of the first country, and the amount in the first currencyis remitted from the credit card company 50 to the payment gateway 40,the payment controller 12 b reads the sales information stored in thesales information storage unit 13 a, calculates the amount of payment inthe second currency from the sales amount in the read-out salesinformation and the exchange rate at the time of the credit card userpurchasing the article, and pays to the merchant device 20 the remainingamount in the currency of the second country after subtracting apredetermined fee from the amount of payment.

[Configuration of Merchant Device]

Next, by referring to FIG. 5 , the configuration of the merchant device20 will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an exemplaryconfiguration of a merchant device according to the first embodiment.The merchant device 20 includes a communication processing unit 21, acontroller 22, and a storage unit 23, as illustrated in FIG. 5 . Theprocessing of the components of the merchant device 20 will be describedbelow. The functions of the merchant device 20 may be divided andassigned to multiple apparatuses.

The communication processing unit 21 controls communications relating tovarious types of information. The communication processing unit 21 maycontrol the communications between the server 10 and the terminal 30.

The storage unit 23 stores data and programs necessary for various typesof processing performed by the controller 22. In particular, the storageunit 23 includes a merchandise list storage unit 23 a, an exchange ratestorage unit 23 b, and a sales information storage unit 23 c ascomponents closely related to the present embodiment. The storage unit23 may be a semiconductor memory element such as a RAM and a flashmemory, or a storage device such as a hard disk and an optical disk.

The merchandise list storage unit 23 a stores a list of merchandisearticles available in the credit-card affiliated merchant. As shown inFIG. 6 , the merchandise list storage unit 23 a may store, for eachcredit-card affiliated merchant, the articles for sale in associationwith the “article names” indicating the names of the articles and“article prices” indicating the retail prices of the articles.

The exchange rate storage unit 23 b stores the exchange rate informationreported by the server 10. If the server 10 reports the exchange ratedaily, the exchange rate storage unit 23 b stores the date and theexchange rate in association with each other. If the applied exchangerates differ from user to user of the credit card, the exchange ratestorage unit 23 b stores the credit card users and exchange rates inassociation with each other.

The sales information storage unit 23 c stores information relating tothe sales of the credit-card affiliated merchant. For instance, thesales information storage unit 23 c stores, as information relating tosales when a credit card settlement is selected, the “purchaser name”,“article name”, “sales amount”, “purchase time/date”, and “exchange rateat purchase” in the same manner as in the aforementioned FIG. 4 .

The controller 22 includes an internal memory for storing required dataand programs defining various processing procedures, therebyimplementing various types of processing. In particular, the controller22 includes an exchange rate storage unit 22 a, a display controller 22b, and a sales notification unit 22 c as components closely related tothe present embodiments. Here, the controller 22 is an electroniccircuit such as a central processing unit (CPU) and a micro processingunit (MPU), or an integrated circuit such as an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) and a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

Upon receipt of an exchange rate from the server 10, the exchange ratestorage unit 22 a stores the received exchange rate in the exchange ratestorage unit 23 b. For instance, the exchange rate storage unit 22 areceives the exchange rate daily from the server 10, and stores the dateand the exchange rate in association with each other in the exchangerate storage unit 23 b.

Based on the exchange rate reported by the server 10, the displaycontroller 22 b performs control in a manner such that the amount ofpayment for the purchased article is displayed on the terminal 30 of theuser in the currency of the first country designated by the user. Forinstance, upon receipt of an image of an article that the user wishes topurchase from the terminal 30, the display controller 22 b performscontrol in such a manner as to identify the price of the articlecontained in this image, calculate the amount of payment in the currencydesignated by the user from the price of the article and the exchangerate, and display the amount of payment in the currency designated bythe user on the image. Here, the display controller 22 b calculates theamount of payment by adding on the fees for the server 10 and fees thatvary in accordance with the credit card companies and merchants todisplay the amount. The amount of payment displayed by the displaycontroller 22 b is the exact amount that the user will actually pay.

Furthermore, if the user meets certain conditions, the displaycontroller 22 b may offer a preferential exchange rate to the user sothat the amount of payment can be discounted. For instance, if the userhas an electronic coupon issued by the merchant, the display controller22 b may change the exchange rate in accordance with the description ofthe coupon and calculate a discounted amount of payment.

Moreover, the display controller 22 b may offer a discount on the amountof payment in accordance with the user's purchase history. Inparticular, the display controller 22 b may refer to the salesinformation storage unit 23 c and, if the purchase history includes apurchase of a specific high-value article or a purchase of apredetermined amount or more, offer a discount and calculate the amountof payment for the purchase made during a predetermined period of time.

Furthermore, the display controller 22 b may offer a discount on theamount of payment based on a status of membership that varies inaccordance with the number of times of use, the total purchase amount,and the like. The status of membership may be raised in stages, forexample, when the number of times of use of the payment system 100exceeds a predetermined threshold value or when the total purchaseamount exceeds a predetermined amount. The display controller 22 b maycalculate a discounted amount of payment by changing the exchange ratein accordance with the status of membership.

The display controller 22 b may further offer a discount on the amountof payment in accordance with an alliance stamp rally. A stamp rally maybe held commonly among multiple merchants. The display controller 22 bmay change the exchange rate in accordance with the stamps collected atthe stamp rally and calculate a discounted amount of payment.

More specifically, upon receipt of an image of an article the userwishes to purchase from the terminal 30, the display controller 22 banalyzes the image to identify the name of the article contained in theimage. The display controller 22 b may be the one that performs theprocessing of the image analysis, or may request an external device toperform the processing. The display controller 22 b identifies the priceof the article corresponding to the article name from the merchandiselist storage unit 23 a. Thereafter, the display controller 22 b performscontrol to read an applicable one of the exchange rates, calculate theamount of payment in the currency of the first country from the price ofthe article, the exchange rate, and the fees, and display the calculatedamount of payment on the image.

The display controller 22 b may perform control to acquire positionalinformation from the terminal 30, identify from this positionalinformation the merchant at which the terminal 30 is located, calculatethe amount of payment in the currency of the first country for thepurchase of the article in accordance with the price of the article andfees of the identified merchant, and display the calculated amount ofpayment on the terminal 30.

The display controller 22 b may acquire positional information from theterminal 30, identify the merchant at which the terminal 30 is locatedbased on the positional information, read the merchandise listcorresponding to the identified merchant from the merchandise liststorage unit 23 a, and identify the price of the article correspondingto the article name from the merchandise list of the identifiedmerchant. The display controller 22 b also identifies the fees of theidentified merchant if the fees vary depending on the merchants.Thereafter, the display controller 22 b performs control to read theapplicable one of the exchange rates, calculate the amount of payment inthe currency of the first country from the price of the article, theexchange rate, and the fees, and display the calculated amount ofpayment on the image of the article.

If the credit card user purchases the article on a credit card, thesales notification unit 22 c notifies the server 10 of the salesinformation in the currency of the first country that has beencalculated based on the exchange rate reported by the server 10. If theuser, who is a foreign traveler, selects a credit card settlement in thehome currency, the sales notification unit 22 c stores in the salesinformation storage unit 23 c the sales information in the currency ofthe first country that has been calculated based on the exchange ratereported by the server 10, and notifies the server 10 of the salesinformation.

Effects of First Embodiment

The server 10 of the settlement system 100 according to the firstembodiment reports an exchange rate to a merchant device 20 in thecredit-card affiliated merchant at certain occasions. The merchantdevice 20 performs control in a manner such that, based on the exchangerate reported by the server 10, the amount of payment for the purchaseof an article will be displayed on the terminal 30 in the currency ofthe first country designated by the user. Furthermore, if the userpurchases the article on a credit card, the merchant device 20 notifiesthe server 10 of the sales information in the currency of the firstcountry that has been calculated based on the exchange rate reported bythe server 10. The server 10 determines the amount of payment to themerchant device 20 based on the sales information reported by themerchant device 20 and the exchange rate at the time of the purchase,and pays the determined amount to the merchant device 20 in the currencyof the second country, which is the home currency for the merchantdevice 20. According to the present embodiments, the user can purchasean article in his/her home currency while checking the price in the homecurrency.

Furthermore, upon receipt of an image of an article that the user wishesto purchase from the terminal 30, the merchant device 20 identifies theprice of the article contained in the image, calculates the amount ofpayment for the purchase of the article in the currency of the firstcountry from the price of the article and the exchange rate, anddisplays the calculated amount of payment on the image of the article.Thus, when the user starts up a predetermined application on theterminal 30 and takes with the camera of the terminal 30 an image of anarticle that the user wishes to purchase, the amount of payment in thehome currency is displayed on the terminal 30. Thus, the user can easilycheck the price in the home currency.

The server 10 reports the exchange rate applicable to individual usersfor a predetermined period of time to the merchant device 20. In thismanner, the settlement system 100 can fix the exchange rate applicablefor a predetermined period of time, for example, to a credit card userwho travels abroad for this period so that the exchange rate can befixed for a specific credit card user during the traveling period.

Furthermore, the merchant device 20 performs control to acquirepositional information from the terminal 30, identify from thispositional information the merchant at which the terminal 30 is located,calculate the amount of payment in the currency of the first country forthe purchase of the article in accordance with the price of the articleand fees of the identified merchant, and display the calculated amountof payment on the image. Thus, in the settlement system 100, even whenthe price of an article and fees differ from merchant to retailer, theprice at a targeted merchant can be displayed in the user's homecurrency on the terminal 30.

(System Configuration)

The components of each apparatus illustrated in the drawings are only torepresent conceptual functions, and may not be always physicallyconfigured as illustrated in the drawings. That is, specific forms ofthe distribution and integration of the apparatuses are not limited tothose illustrated in the drawings. All or part of the apparatuses may beconfigured to be functionally or physically distributed or integrated inunits as desired in accordance with various loads, usage conditions, andthe like. Furthermore, all or part of the processing functions performedin the apparatuses may be realized by the CPU and a program analyzed andimplemented by the CPU, or may be realized as hardware by wired logic.

Among the processes described in the present embodiment, all or part ofthe processes described as being automatically performed may be manuallyperformed, or all or part of the processes described as being manuallyperformed may be automatically performed with a commonly known method.In addition, the processing procedures, the control procedures, thespecific names, and the information including various types of data andvarious parameters shown in the specification and the drawings can befreely changed, unless otherwise specified.

(Programs)

It is also possible to create a program by describing the processingexecuted by the apparatuses in the above embodiment in acomputer-executable language. For example, a program may be created bydescribing the processing executed by the server 10 according to theembodiment in a computer-executable language. If this is the case, thesame effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be achievedby the computer executing the program. Such a program may be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium so that the same processing as that ofthe above-described embodiment can be realized by a computer reading andexecuting the program stored in the storage medium.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a computer configured to implement programs.As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the computer 1000 may include a memory 1010,a CPU 1020, a hard disk drive interface 1030, a disk drive interface1040, a serial port interface 1050, a video adaptor 1060, and a networkinterface 1070. These components are coupled to one another by way of abus 1080.

As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the memory 1010 includes a read only memory(ROM) 1011 and a RAM 1012. The ROM 1011 stores a boot program such asthe basic input output system (BIOS). The hard disk drive interface 1030is coupled to a hard disk drive 1090 as illustrated in FIG. 7 . The diskdrive interface 1040 is coupled to the disk drive 1100, as illustratedin FIG. 7 . For instance, a removable storage medium such as a magneticdisk or an optical disk is inserted into the disk drive 1100. The serialport interface 1050 may be coupled to a mouse 1110 and a keyboard 1120,as illustrated in FIG. 7 . The video adaptor 1060 may be coupled to adisplay 1130, as illustrated in FIG. 7 .

Here, the hard disk drive 1090 may store an OS 1091, an applicationprogram 1092, a program module 1093, and program data 1094, asillustrated in FIG. 7 . That is, the above program may be stored in thehard disk drive 1090 as a program module in which instructions to beexecuted by the computer 1000 are described.

The various data described in the above embodiment may be stored asprogram data in the memory 1010 or the hard disk drive 1090. Then, theCPU 1020 reads the program module 1093 and the program data 1094 storedin the memory 1010 and the hard disk drive 1090, as necessary, onto theRAM 1012, and thereby executes various processing procedures.

The program module 1093 and the program data 1094 relating to theprogram are not limited to those stored in the hard disk drive 1090, andmay be stored in a removable storage medium and read out by the CPU 1020by way of a disk drive or the like. Alternatively, the program module1093 and the program data 1094 relating to the program may be stored ina different computer connected via a network (e.g., Local Area Network(LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN)) and read out by the CPU 1020 by wayof the network interface 1070.

The above embodiment and its modifications are included in the techniquedisclosed in the present application, and also included in the scope ofthe invention described in the claims and its equivalent scope.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   -   10 Server    -   11, 21 Communication processing unit    -   12, 22 Controller    -   12 a Rate notification unit    -   12 b Payment controller    -   13, 23 Storage unit    -   13 a Sales information storage unit    -   20 Merchant device    -   22 a Exchange rate storage unit    -   22 b Display controller    -   22 c Sales notification unit    -   23 a Merchandise list storage unit    -   23 b Exchange rate storage unit    -   23 c Sales information storage unit    -   30 Terminal    -   40 Payment gateway    -   50 Credit card company    -   100 Settlement system

The invention claimed is:
 1. A settlement system comprising a server; amobile terminal apparatus of a user; and a merchant device, wherein theserver comprises: a memory configured to store a first exchange rateapplicable to the user for a predetermined period of time, salesinformation reported by the merchant device, and a second exchange rateapplicable for a time except for the predetermined period of time,wherein the first exchange rate and the second exchange rate areassociated with a user; and processing circuitry configured to: report,at a predetermined occasion, one of the first exchange rate and thesecond exchange rate to the merchant device based on whether or not thepredetermined occasion is included in the predetermined period of time,and perform control to determine an amount of payment to be made to themerchant device, based on the sales information reported by the merchantdevice and the one of the first exchange rate and the second exchangerate, pay the determined amount to the merchant device in a currency ofa second country, the currency of the second country being a homecurrency for the merchant device, and fix an amount of settlement forthe user to a price in a currency of a first country, the price beingdisplayed on a mobile terminal apparatus of the user at a time ofpurchase, the currency of the first country being designated by theuser, the mobile terminal apparatus communicating with the server andthe merchant device, the mobile terminal apparatus being owned by theuser, the merchant device comprises: a memory configured to store theone of the first exchange rate and the second exchange rate reported bythe server; and processing circuitry configured to: perform control tocause the mobile terminal apparatus of the user to display an articlethat the user wishes to purchase, and to cause the mobile terminalapparatus of the user to display, based on an exchange rate selectedfrom the first exchange rate and the second exchange rate according towhether the time of purchase is included in the predetermined period oftime, an amount of payment for purchase of the article in the currencyof the first country designated by the user, wherein the article thatthe user wishes to purchase, the amount of payment for purchase of thearticle in the currency of the first country being-are contained in animage, the article is sold in a merchant shop, and the merchant deviceis set in the merchant shop, and if the user purchases the article,notify the server of the sales information in the currency of the firstcountry, the sales information being calculated by the merchant based onthe selected exchange rate, the mobile terminal apparatus comprises:capture the image containing the article to be purchased in the secondcountry, transmit the image to the merchant device, and the merchantdevice performs control to identify, upon receipt of the image thatcontains the article that the user wishes to purchase from the-mobileterminal apparatus, a price in the currency of the second country of thearticle, and calculate the amount of payment for purchase of the articlein the currency of the first country based on the price in the currencyof the second country of the article and the selected exchange rate. 2.The settlement system according to claim 1, wherein the server reportsto the merchant device the first exchange rate applicable to the userfor the predetermined period of time, the processing circuitry isfurther configured to change the first exchange rate if the user whoowns the mobile terminal apparatus meets a condition, and calculate adiscounted amount of payment for purchase of the article.
 3. Thesettlement system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminalapparatus displays the article, the amount of payment for purchase ofthe article in the currency of the first country, and the amount ofpayment for purchase of the article in the currency of the secondcountry, and the merchant device further performs control to acquirepositional information from the mobile terminal apparatus, identify themerchant shop at which the mobile terminal apparatus is located based onthe positional information, calculate the amount of payment for purchaseof the article in the currency of the first country from the price inthe currency of the second country of the article and fees correspondingto the identified merchant, and display the calculated amount of paymenton the image, the predetermined period is determined by a period of timefor which the user stays in a second country, and the sales informationis reported by the merchant device.
 4. A settlement method implementedby a settlement system comprising a server, a mobile terminal apparatusof a user, and a merchant device, the method comprising: at the server:storing, at a memory, a first exchange rate applicable to the user for apredetermined period of time, sales information reported by the merchantdevice, and a second exchange rate applicable for a time except for thepredetermined period of time, wherein the first exchange rate and thesecond exchange rate are associated with a user; reporting, at apredetermined occasion, one of the first exchange rate and the secondexchange rate to the merchant device based on whether or not thepredetermined occasion is included in the predetermined period of time,and performing control to determine an amount of payment to be made tothe merchant device, based on the sales information reported by themerchant device and the one of the first exchange rate and the secondexchange rate, pay the determined amount to the merchant device in acurrency of a second country, the currency of the second country being ahome currency for the merchant device, and fix an amount of settlementfor the user to a price in a currency of a first country, the pricebeing displayed on a mobile terminal apparatus of the user at a time ofpurchase, the currency of the first country being designated by theuser, the mobile terminal apparatus communicating with the server andthe merchant device, the mobile terminal apparatus being owned by theuser, at the merchant device: storing, at a memory, the one of the firstexchange rate and the second exchange rate reported by the server; andperforming control to cause the mobile terminal apparatus of the user todisplay an article that the user wishes to purchase, and to cause themobile terminal apparatus of the user to display, based on an exchangerate selected from the first exchange rate and the second exchange rateaccording to whether the time of purchase is included in thepredetermined period of time, an amount of payment for purchase of thearticle in the currency of the first country designated by the user,wherein the article that the user wishes to purchase, the amount ofpayment for purchase of the article in the currency of the first countryare contained in an image, the article is sold in a merchant shop, andthe merchant device is set in the merchant shop, and if the userpurchases the article, notifying the server of the sales information inthe currency of the first country, the sales information beingcalculated by the merchant based on the selected exchange rate, at themobile terminal apparatus: capturing the image containing the article tobe purchased in the second country, transmitting the image to themerchant device, and the merchant device performs control to identify,upon receipt of the image that contains the article that the user wishesto purchase from the mobile terminal apparatus, a price in the currencyof the second country of the article, and calculate the amount ofpayment for purchase of the article in the currency of the first countrybased on the price in the currency of the second country of the articleand the selected exchange rate.
 5. The settlement method according toclaim 4, wherein the server reports to the merchant device the firstexchange rate applicable to the user for the predetermined period oftime, the method further comprising: changing the first exchange rate ifthe user who owns the mobile terminal apparatus meets a condition, andcalculating a discounted amount of payment for purchase of the article.6. The settlement method according to claim 4, wherein the mobileterminal apparatus displays the article, the amount of payment forpurchase of the article in the currency of the first country, and theamount of payment for purchase of the article in the currency of thesecond country, and the merchant device further performs control toacquire positional information from the mobile terminal apparatus,identify the merchant shop at which the mobile terminal apparatus islocated based on the positional information, calculate the amount ofpayment for purchase of the article in the currency of the first countryfrom the price in the currency of the second country of the article andfees corresponding to the identified merchant, and display thecalculated amount of payment on the image, the predetermined period isdetermined by a period of time for which the user stays in a secondcountry, and the sales information is reported by the merchant device.